K-12 education in Michigan

Michigan at the Millennium: A Benchmark and Analysis of its Fiscal and Economic Structure

Nationally, K–12 education has been undergoing dramatic changes aimed to improve equity, adequacy, and efficiency. The school finance equalization movement has increased the centralization of school finance and educed variation in revenues across local school districts. Michigan’s Proposal A stemmed from concerns about inequities in property tax burdens and school spending across districts, and fits with in the latter part of this broad movement. Two other leading movements have been increased school choice and increased reliance on accountability systems. Michigan has been one of the innovators in fostering more flexible school choice, and has recently adopted reward systems based on student academic performance. This chapter describes recent reforms in the nation and in Michigan, as well as future challenges.